Indiaís jinx in the men singles final of the Commonwealth table tennis championships continued with Chetan Baboor becoming the third Indian, after Mir Kasim Ali in 1971 and Kamlesh Mehta in 1991 to lose a closely contested final.

In the decisive fifth game, Baboor led 12-8 and 16-13 but squandered a game point when his forehand went out. The game was extended and the lead fluctuated seven times before Englandís Mathew Syed won 21-7, 21-16, 11-21, 21-23, 27-25.

For Baboor, it was once again a case of so near and yet so far, as he lost his third final in the championships in 69 minutes. Earlier, Baboor clashed for the title unsuccessfully in the menís team event and the menís doubles. Thus India staging the meet for the third time, finished without a title.

Singapore won all the titles in the womenís section, with top seed Li Jia Wei having bagged a triple crown in individual events. Today she retained her women singles title beating yet another Chinese expatriate, second seed Li Chunli of New Zealand in four closely contested games.

In the menís section, Nigeria won the team event. England bagged the men singles and doubles title.

Syed, the 30 year journalist-politician and an avid fan of England cricketer Graeme Hick, won his third successive Commonwealth singles title. He has thus emulated the feat of his countryman Trevor Taylor who annexed the singles title thrice in a row in 1971, 1973 and 1975.

The multifaceted champion, a graduate from Oxford, later admitted that he did not expect Baboor to bounce back so dramatically.

A distraught Baboor said: ďLapses in concentration and insufficient rest after the semi- final led to my loss.Ē Baboorís semi-final clash with the Nigerian Teriola lasted nearly two hours, whilst Syed won his semi- final tie in less than thirty minutes.

In the opening game, Baboor lost five points on his service twice and could not cope with Syedís deep chops and clever top spin. Syed led 8-2, and 16-4 to win the game in just nine minutes. Baboor started the second game disastrously, again losing all five points on service. However he rallied to 16-19 but lost 16-21.

The Indian No. 1 changed strategy from the third game onwards. He played drop shots and then struck deep forehand drives forcing Syed away from the table. The ploy clicked as Baboor led throughout in both the third and fourth games. But that was not enough for the Indian as Syed, ranked 52nd in the world kept his cool in the extended points and won the crown.

Mohun Bagan are back in business, yet again. At the Salt Lake Stadium they broke the Salgaocar jinx and convincingly beat the Goan team 2-1.

The National League champions are now just a point behind leaders East Bengal (39 points off 20 matches, against 40 from the same number of matches), and wait for East Bengalís crucial match versus FC Kochin Tuesday.

Jose Ramirez Barreto scored both goals for the winners, taking his personal tally to 14, keeping him atop the scorersí list. The Salgaocar reply was off an arguable penalty, converted by Climax Lawrence.

This was Mohun Baganís last match in the city this season. They play the last two matches of the league in Goa (versus Vasco) and in Bangalore (versus ITI).

Salgaocar are in fifth spot, with 26 points from 20 matches.

Mohun Bagan were into the lead from the start, the main push coming via the half-line which was mobile today with the return of Basudeb Mondal. Salgaocarís strategy of short passes suited their slow play, not the occasion where a win was a must. Their defence never could group into anything cohesive.

In the fifth minute, off a mele on the top of the box, Mohun Baganís on-lien man (from Mohammedan Sporting) Abdul Khalique centred to the goalmouth from the right. Barreto collected, and as goalkeeper Juje Siddi charged out, lobbed in over him. There was some confusion on whether Barreto was off-side, but referee S. Suresh of Tamil Nadu, disregarded this.

A counter-attack immediately after showed how slow the Goan stars have become. Former national skipper Bruno Coutinho waddled to a perfect heading situation in the box, and was too late.

Barreto ran amok, sort of. In the 18th minute he was up the left and centred to the goalmouth. Debjit Ghosh had moved up, and had cut through the thin defence. He rushed to shoot an offer he could have take more time with. In the process, he handed it to Siddi.

The pace of the game was pathetic. Salgaocar, especially, looked a veteransí team. In the Bagan attack line, the elusive combination between Alfaz Ahmed and Barreto stayed that way. Hence much energy input from the half-line was wasted.

In the 38th minute the Goans got a couple of chances. In the first, a 25-yard Denis Cabral grounder was saved by Mohun Bagan goalkeeper Bivash Ghosh who squatted quickly, and in the second Bivas saved a weak rising shot from Bruno.

A minute to the break, Alfaz made a hash of a Barreto offering at the goalmouth. The Bangladeshi shot out from where it is difficult to.

In the ninth minute of the second half, James Singh reached the top of the box and passed to Khalique when challenged. Khalique sent a high lob to the goalmouth from where Barreto rose to send a fine header in.

Four minutes later, off a counter-attack that landed in the Mohun Bagan box, Dulal Biswas tried to take the ball off Denis Cabral who was going to trap a centre. Cabral fell, and referee Suresh, whose supervision left much to be desired today, pointed to the penalty spot. The push was unintentional, but the referee insisted and Climax converted easily.

Mohun Bagan could have gone ahead further but for more misses ó another from Alfaz and a Khalique shot coming off the upright.

Tolly meet JCT

JCT, facing relegation from the National League proper, meet Tollygunge Agragami tomorrow. Without their coach Sukhwinder Singh, now training the Indian side for the pre-World Cup matches, in Bangalore, the team from Phagwara, will find it difficult holding Tolly at the Rabindra Sarobar Stadium.

JCT are now in 11th position, just ahead of SBT, with 16 points from 19 matches. Tolly are placed seventh, with 23 points from 20 matches.

COURT STOPS PROCESS

BY OUR LEGAL REPORTER

Calcutta, April 20:

A division bench of the Calcutta High Court today halted efforts at the Mohun Bagan to elect a new executive committe. The bench, comprising Justice B. Panigrahi and Justice D. P. Sengupta, also restrained the managing committee of the club from issuing photo identity cards for the purpose.

This follows a petition challenging, on the basis of a previous court directive, the right of the present committee to hold elections.

Todayís order states that the money collected by the present committee from membership subscriptions will have to be deposited in a new and separate account.

Interestingly, the counsel for the UB Group, told the court that they wanted to intervene into the matter because the present committee had failed to furnish accounts for Rs 4.66 crore that the company had given the club.

However, with lawyers representing petitioners and respondents objecting, the division bench directed them to file affidavits by April 27 stating why the company could not be made a party to the case.

The company will have to file the reply by May 4 and the matter will come up for hearing on May 9.

EB RESTRICT CPT

BY A STAFF REPORTER

Calcutta, April 20:

Four-wicket hauls by spinners Sourashis Lahiri and Shivsagar Singh helped East Bengal dismiss CPT for 202 in the CAB League championship play-off semi-final at the Eden Gardens today.

Wicketkeeper Rahul Deb, with three catches and two stumpings, proved an ideal foil for the spinners.

In A.N. Ghosh Trophy, Kalighat recorded their fifth victory in six games to lead the round robin league with 22 points.